WOMEN IN THE RENAISSANCE

 "During the Renaissance, women were not allowed to attend art school. Everyone asks, where are the great women painters of the Renaissance?"

~Karen DeCrow

Renaissance was a great movement in history that marked the rejuvenation of art, literature and culture across various countries of the world at different time periods. Whenever one talks about Renaissance generally, one never forgets to mention about the ' Renaissance man' , his contributions to art and literature of the period and his achievements that made him a great influencer, not only of the Renaissance period but also of the modern times. But mostly one forgets to talk about the ' Renaissance woman' - what was her role during the Renaissance period? Did she participated in the Renaissance movement? Did women received enough opportunities or had a choice during the time?  These are some of the fundamental questions that are rarely raised and talked about whenever one looks over the Renaissance period. The Renaissance period is mainly dominated by the male artists, scholars and philosophers but it also becomes necessary to discover the status of women and how women contributed to the Renaissance period in their own way. 

GENDER ROLES OF WOMEN IN THE RENAISSANCE

The question of "Did women had a Renaissance" or "Was there a women's Renaissance" is something that have been the topic of debate for a long time, especially during the 20th century. In 1977, Joan kelly wrote an essay called " Did women have a Renaissance", in which she challenged the contemporary historiography of Renaissance and explored women's roles in the Renaissance society. She also talks about women having less opportunities and agency as compared to men during the period. This article by kelly made other historians to look and analyse the historiography of Renaissance and other major  historical Periodization through the lens of women's experiences. The women of the Renaissance were denied all political rights and were considered legally subject to their husbands. Women of all classes were expected to perform the duties of a housewife and education was also not accessible to women, even though there were exceptions but that was also in the case of the elite class of  the society. Women were expected to fit in the ' ideal female figure' ascribed by the society and their thoughts and ideas were shaped by men. Marriage was seen as the only opportunity a women had in her life to move ahead in the social hierarchy and women who didn't marry was looked down by the society and were not permitted to live independently, either they lived with male relatives or were sent to convents. In the highly patriarchal Renaissance society, the roles women played were determined by the men in the society but there were slight differences in the status of women as per their social hierarchy in the society i.e the upper class women had a little space to express themselves as compared to the lower class women and the working class women. 

> LOWER CLASS WOMEN 

The lower class women were expected to be ' typical housewives' and take care of everything to do with the house. The lower class women were also supposed to work in the fields alongside their husbands and then look after the household and take care of the children .These women were excluded from the public space completely. The lower class women were completely denied the opportunity and space of their own to take part in the Renaissance movement, instead they were seen only as the caretakers of the house who engaged themselves in the household duties completely.

> WORKING CLASS WOMEN

The working class women were also expected to be ideal housewives and take care of the household but their position was slightly different from the lower class women. These working class women were allowed to help their husbands in running their business. Apart from t

helping their husbands, women also did minor works like sewing ,knitting, etc. The working class women had freedom of movement as compared to the lower class women, but they suffered as sexual servants. Even though the working class women engaged a little bit with the public space and were into the business ( as a part of helping their husbands or working for them), still they didn't enjoy much status in the society and didn't received the opportunity to participate in the Renaissance movement and through that to establish a self- identity of their own.

> UPPER CLASS WOMEN

The Upper Class women were the only women who were allowed to express themselves, but not sufficiently. The upper class women had servants and workers to help them but still they were expected to take care of the household. Even though the upper class women had a chance to express their minds but their thoughts were tainted by male influence. Also if a woman is a  shrew i.e an outspoken woman, then she is not considered as an 'ideal righteous female' as per the patriarchal renaissance society where only men were supposed to be heard aloud. This is clearly represented by William shakespeare in one of his play " The Taming of the Shrew". It is also worth notable that the women of the elite class, who inherited wealth and a measure of power, received classical educations, contributed to literature and also became patrons of the art. Therefore it can be said that only the upper class women received an opportunity to participate in the renaissance movement, even though one rarely talks about their contribution and the struggle they faced inorder to break the traditional norms and  to make their way into the Renaissance movement. 

INCREDIBLE WOMEN FIGURES OF THE RENAISSANCE

Even though women were denied political rights, financial autonomy and a higher social status in the society and were expected to be under the control of male domination, serving the household, still there are some notable women figures who made their way into the Renaissance movement, challenging and breaking away from the conventional system in which the society functioned. These women figures contributed to the art and literature of the period in their own way and constructed their own self-identity as a 'Renaissance Woman'.

> CHRISTINE DE PIZAN (1364-1430)

Christine de Pizan was a medieval french poet who became the first professional female writer in Europe and a proto-feminist who attacked misogyny and defended women at a time when the concept of feminism didn't yet exists. She also like most of the girls of the period didn't received a formal education but her father supported her learning and literary pursuits which was a great thing to do at that time. She began her literary career by writing poems in the memory of her husband, which proved successful.Later she started focusing on the idea of defending women and critiquing the patriarchal society she lived through her works.  Her books were revolutionary in their times, putting forward ideas about women and feminity that were incredibly progressive for a society that consistently degraded and dismissed women. Some of her famous works are "The Book of the City of Ladies"(1405) , " Book of Three Virtues"(1405), " Letter to the God of Loves"(1399), etc.

> ISOTTA NOGAROLA ( 1418-1466) 

Isotta Nogarola is known in history as the first major female humanist scholar of the Renaissance period. She corresponded with learned men through letter writing and was one of the few women in Europe who circulated her writings. She pursued such a field of study that was completely male dominated at the times. She faced immense criticism for pursuing her career as a humanist and  for choosing books and study over marriage. She later re-emerged as a religious scholar, which was seen as a field of study that was more acceptable for women to pursue at the time.  She challenged the conventional system of the patriarchal society by not marrying and also by not joining in a convent. Instead she lived an independent life alone which was not considered to be 'ideal' during the period. She gained recognition posthumously with the publication of many of her letters which are still admired even today. Her most famous work is " Of the Equal or Unequal Sin of Adam and Eve" (1451) which focused on the biblical dilemma faced by Adam and Eve and which of the two was responsible for the fall of humanity. Her life and works demonstrated the difficulty women interested in academia faced and they scorn they endured for choosing academia over marriage. 

> CATHERINE DE MEDICI ( 1519-1589)

Catherine de Medici , daughter of Lorenzo di Peiro( ruler of Florence), was the queen consort of  France from 1547 until 1559, by marriage to King Henry II and mother of kings Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III. The years during which her sons reigned have been called " the age of Catherine de Medici" as she had extensive influence in the political Life of France. She was also known as one of the influential personality of the time. After the death of her husband Henry II, her son Francis II became the king of France at the age of 15. As her son was too young to understand the political system and rule an entire country like France, She got herself involved in the political administration and state affairs and it became a necessity for her to take decisions for the state. When she started getting involved in the matters of the kingdom, she also contributed to the growing Renaissance movement by providing patronage to great artists and writers. Catherine de Medici became an important women figure of the Renaissance because she entered the politics and managed the state affairs at a time period, when only men or Kings had the power to do so and women, even if they are Queens, were expected to run the household and produce more heirs for the kingdom. 

> MARGUERITE OF NAVARRE ( 1492-1549)

Marguerite of Navarre is one of the most important women figures of the French Renaissance. She was the first woman of French nobility to have many different works published and she was also the Queen consort of Henry II of Navarre. Marguerite was a celebrated Renaissance humanist and also a renowned author. Marguerite was an educated women of the upper class who was taught the tenets of humanism and she used it to study scripture. Marguerite believed in non- orthodox ideas and espoused reform within the Roman catholic church, believing that ' eternal salvation' can be only gained by sincere and true repentance of one's sins rather than by rote prayers, pilgrimages, good works, etc. This idea she believed drew a lot of criticisms towards her. She wrote many poems and religious meditations, but her most important work is the "Heptameron"(1559) which was published posthumously. It was only in the late 19th century that many of her unpublished works were found by historians and her literary legacy was appreciated as many scholars recognized her significant contribution to literature due to the historical, philosophical and religious concepts explored in her work.

> SOFONISBA ANGUISSOLA ( 1532-1625)

Sofonisba Anguissola was a formidable Renaissance painter at a time when only men dominated the art of painting completely and no women of significance painted or was considered as a student of fine arts. Even though she emerged as a Renaissance painter, her gender still proved a barrier to her as she could not hire male models and also she could not produce the religious paintings that were at the top of the hierarchy of painting genres and which brought prestige to artists. Therefore she engaged herself in painting portraits, for which she became well known not just in Italy but internationally. As her reputation spread beyond Italy, she was invited to join the court of Philip II of Spain in Madrid in 1559 as a court painter and a tutor to the king's third wife, where she spent 14 years of her life. She is known as the most significant painter of Renaissance as "she showed a greater application and better grace than any other woman of her age in her endeavours at drawing, she has thus succeeded not only in drawing, colouring and painting from nature, copying excellently from others, but by herself has created rare and very beautiful paintings"(Giorgio Varsari). 

Sofonisba's self portrait of playing chess with sisters

CONCLUSION

Women's role in the Renaissance society, political system of the period and culture have been a topic of debate ever since the Renaissance period itself. Historians and commentators have constantly raised the questions like whether 'women had a Renaissance', 'Where was the women during the Renaissance movement', ' whether the patriarchal systems in place regulated them to the sidelines completely. But by the late 19th and 20th century, the historians and scholars recognized many female figures who participated and contributed to the Renaissance era. Women were involved in the state affairs from behind the scenes, acting on behalf of their husbands or sons and participated in unexpected and creative ways. Women made their way to arts and literature by challenging the age old customs and pursuing career options that were completely male dominated. It is worth notable that even though people talk less about women in Renaissance, still some of the Female figures have left their mark and influence over the future generations in such a way that we feel inspired by these brave women figures even today. 

~ DEVIKA R NAIR